Girls soccer: Vero Beach makes it two district titles in a row

HOBIE HILER/SPECIAL TO TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Vero Beach's Hailey Bertin (13) celebrates after scoring a goal in the first half of the District 6-5A Championship High School girls soccer match at South County Stadium. Vero Beach won 4-0

HOBIE HILER

HOBIE HILER/SPECIAL TO TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Treasure Coast's Jordan Bohl (18) and Vero Beach's Sarah Keville (2) battle for possession of the ball in the second half of the District 6-5A Championship High School girls soccer match at South County Stadium. Vero Beach won 4-0

HOBIE HILER

PORT ST. LUCIE — Ashley Calcagno credited her teammates' play more than her own in the District 6-5A girls soccer title game on Friday, but her play in the first half set the tone for a Vero Beach repeat.

Calcagno set up the first goal early in the contest and added her own marker 18 minutes later as the Indians defeated Treasure Coast 4-0 at South County Regional Stadium to claim the school's second straight district championship.

With the win, Vero Beach (15-3-1) will play host to the loser of the Apopka-Wekiva game in a regional quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday while Treasure Coast (7-4-1) will travel to face the winner.

Just eight minutes into the game, Calcagno lobbed a well-placed ball from the corner to teammate Alli Walsh, who headed it past Titans goalkeeper Amanda Corbin for a 1-0 lead.

From 25 yards out later in the first half, Calcagno fired a perfect shot that sailed over Corbin's head and into the top of the goal, giving Vero a 2-0 advantage and all the momentum.

"I set (Alli) up, but it was really her finish that made the goal happen," Calcagno said. "If she had not gotten up there and had that header, we wouldn't have had that goal.

"I wouldn't have scored my goal if Sarah (Keville) hadn't said, 'Ashley, shoot it.' Without my teammates, I wouldn't be where I am."

Before the half ended, Alana Hockenhull raced down the right side, centered a ball to Hailey Bertin and watched the junior tap it in to make it 3-0.

Keville scored a goal from 15 yards out off an assist from Bertin for the final margin.

"We made some changes and went with three attackers. We wanted to get after them from the get-go," said Vero Beach coach Jose Gibert.

"But it's a credit to our defensive players, too. They were phenomenal. I think this is our eighth consecutive victory with six by shutouts. Our defense is not letting opponents get quality looks at our goal."

The Titans (7-4-1) had its best pressure in the first five minutes but couldn't get good scoring chances.

"If we could've gotten an early lead, it would've made a whole lot of difference," Titans coach B.J. Busutil said. "We have a young team, and confidence is everything to them.

"As Vero stepped it up and played better and better, we were under pressure and our confidence wasn't where it should be."